London — Chinese stocks fell almost 4% and alarm bells rang across global markets on Tuesday, as the trade dispute between the US and China escalated further. The yuan also hit a five-month low overnight after US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose a 10% tariff on another $200bn of Chinese goods drew warnings from Beijing about $50bn of retaliatory penalties on US goods. Asian stocks wilted to a four-month low and Australia’s dollar and SA’s rand were among a diverse group of currencies caught in the crossfire. Europe’s main equity benchmarks sank 1% to 1.5% in early trading and Wall Street futures were pointing to similar falls there later, while safe-haven government bonds and the yen rallied as investors sought protection. "You only have to look at how far the main Shanghai index has fallen to see that people would probably want some safe-haven assets at this point," said DZ Bank analyst Andy Cossor. China had warned it will take "qualitative" and "quantitative" measures if...
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